Volunteering 2.0: How Online Social Networks Motivate Volunteer Retention

摘要

Volunteer organizations are hard pressed to retain a steady volunteer workforce to carry out their mission. When volunteers receive positive benefits and social support from the volunteer organization, they express positive commitment to continue. Online social networks are an inexpensive information system that can reach a wide variety of people and maintain a dialogue with them to better serve their needs, but the strategic role of online social networks for volunteer retention is relatively understudied. This study extends the theory of functional motivations, which has been used to predict retention of volunteers only in an offline context. The research surveys volunteers regarding their personal use of online social networks, their motivations and benefits, and their commitment and satisfaction, to test the impact of online social network use on volunteer retention.